The Hellenic Art Theatre reopened to huge applause on September 5 due to their incredible performance of Greek comedy, Ploutos (Wealth).
After six months of hibernation due to the coronavirus outbreak, the theatre group is back with enthralling performances running right up until September 20.
Based on a play written by ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes almost 2500 years ago, Ploutos tackles the issue of inequality between the rich and poor in a thought-provoking and insightful way.
The plot is based on a poor Athenian man, Chremylos, who returned home from his visit to the Oracle of Delphi with a blind old man who turned out to be Ploutos, the God of Wealth.
Chremylos decided to help restore Ploutos’ sight so the God would distribute his wealth to the deserving and virtuous.
The whole cast of Ploutos. Photo: Hellenic Art Theatre.
“It was this relationship between the God of Wealth and the poor Athenian man, Chremylos, which really made me realise things haven’t changed much since Aristophanes first wrote the play,” one audience member said.
“The comedy was just a really clever way to comment on today’s social injustices and ridicule the unfair distribution of wealth and corruption.”
With such high praise from just its opening night, Ploutos is expected to continue its success throughout September.
The Greek Welfare Center (GWC), with the blessing and encouragement of His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, has been at the forefront of trying to meet the needs created by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
The effort includes a series of services and programs that meet the new challenges facing the Greek community and the wider Australian society.
Bi-lingual National Counselling and Support Line:
The hotline was established in recent months because the pandemic has brought upheaval in the daily lives of all. In particular, people in Melbourne have had their usual social support networks, such as family, friends and the church, interrupted due to the current lockdown.
Anyone experiencing emotional or psychological distress is encouraged to contact the hotline, where they will be provided with support, advice, information and the possibility of referral to competent services.
BI-LINGUAL NATIONAL COUNSELLING AND SUPPORT LINE The unprecedented consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent crises have touched not only the whole of the Greek-Australian community but the wider Australian society. Together with our prayers, thoughts and emotional support, the GWC Community Services (Greek Welfare Centre), which is the social welfare arm of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia, would like to advise our community of a special service set up specifically in response to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.Issues such as depression, anxiety and grief, are common responses and may be resulted in a range of emotions and behaviours. Support services are offered to individuals and families who are experiencing emotional or psychological distress due to the uncertainty, social distancing and isolation, related to the Covid-19 pandemic. A Bi-lingual National Counselling and Support Telephone Line has been established to provide:SupportInformationCounsellingReferralFor information or to make an appointment to speak to a counsellor:-Please ring the number 1800 77 66 42, Monday – Friday 8am – 6pm. This is a free and confidential service.ΔΙΓΛΩΣΣΗ ΕΘΝΙΚΗ ΤΗΛΕΦΩΝΙΚΗ ΓΡΑΜΜΗ ΨΥΧΙΚΗΣ ΥΓΕΙΑΣΟι άνευ προηγουμένου συνέπειες της πανδημίας του Κορωνοϊού και τα επακόλουθα αυτής, έχουν αγγίξει όχι μόνο ολόκληρη την Ελληνο-Αυστραλιανή παροικία αλλά και την ευρύτερη Αυστραλιανή κοινωνία. Μαζί με τις προσευχές μας, τις σκέψεις μας και τη συναισθηματική μας υποστήριξη, το Ελληνικό Κέντρο Προνοίας ως η κοινωνική προνοιακή υπηρεσία της Ιεράς Αρχιεπισκοπής Αυστραλίας θα ήθελε να ενημερώσει την παροικία μας για την ειδική υπηρεσία που έχει συσταθεί ειδικά για την αντιμετώπιση των επιπτώσεων της πανδημίας του Κορωνοϊού.Θέματα όπως η κατάθλιψη, το άγχος και η θλίψη είναι κοινές αντιδράσεις και μπορεί να εκδηλωθούν μέσα από μια σειρά συναισθημάτων και συμπεριφορών. Η Υπηρεσία υποστήριξης παρέχεται σε άτομα και οικογένειες που αντιμετωπίζουν συναισθηματική ή ψυχολογική πίεση λόγω της αβεβαιότητας, της κοινωνικής απόστασης και της απομόνωσης που έχει επιφέρει η πανδημία του Κορωνοϊού. Έχει δημιουργηθεί μια Δίγλωσση Εθνική Τηλεφωνική Γραμμή Ψυχικής Υγείας που παρέχει:ΥποστήριξηΠληροφορίεςΣυμβουλευτική υπηρεσίαΠαραπομπή σε αρμόδιες υπηρεσίες.Για ενημέρωση ή για να κλείσετε ραντεβού ώστε να μιλήσετε με έναν ειδικό σύμβουλο, παρακαλούμε να καλέστε στον αριθμό: 1800 77 66 42,Δευτέρα έως Παρασκευή από τις 8:00 π.μ. έως τις 6:00μ.μ. Αυτή είναι μία δωρεάν και εμπιστευτική υπηρεσία.
Those who want to make an appointment to speak with a special counselor can call 1800 77 66 42 from Monday to Friday, 8 am until 6 pm.
The Service is free and governed by confidentiality.
It is also worth mentioning that the GWC has created a series of informative videos, which are related to the topics of stress, depression and feelings of loss and sadness. These videos are available on the centre’s Facebook page.
Acts of Love:
The ‘Acts of Love’ program has been set up by the GWC to offer free meals to individuals and families facing financial difficulties.
ACTS OF LOVEGWC Community Services, the social welfare arm of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, is offering a free meal…
The meals are freshly cooked with a variety of flavours and nutritious ingredients, and they are then delivered to the homes of those interested every Tuesday and Thursday.
For more information, those interested can call the offices of the GWC on 9516 2188 from Monday to Friday, from 8.30 am until 5 pm.
Anti-apartheid campaigner and Nelson Mandela’s personal lawyer, George Bizos, has died at 92, his family said Wednesday.
He died peacefully at his home of natural causes, the family said.
Bizos, who came to South Africa as a 13-year-old fleeing the Nazi occupation of Greece, played a key role in the legal fight to end apartheid, the racist system used to oppress South Africa’s Black majority for decades.
“This is a very sad moment for our country,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said. “He contributed immensely, immensely, to the attainment of our democracy” and was one of the architects of the post-apartheid constitution. “We dip our heads in honor.”
The soft-spoken but determined Bizos represented Mandela from his treason trial in 1964 until the former South African president’s death in 2013.
George Bizos in 2011 touring the building where Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo had a law office in Johannesburg. Photo: Denis Farrell/Associated Press.
Bizos is credited with getting Mandela to add the words “if needs be” to his speech from the dock in which he said he was prepared to die for his ideals.
The addition was seen as an escape clause, avoiding any impression that Mandela was goading the court to impose the death penalty.
“Another giant of South African history and of global struggles for justice has fallen,” the Nelson Mandela Foundation said.
It described the friendship between Bizos and Mandela as legendary, and it recalled Mandela’s praise: “I don’t think words can sufficiently express our indebtedness to men and women like George Bizos.”
The two met as law students. During Mandela’s years in prison, Bizos helped to look after his family, and he played a key role in negotiations for Mandela’s release in 1990.
Bizos is credited with getting Mandela to add the words “if needs be” to his speech.
“In the last years of Mandela’s life, they were often to be found together, just catching up, sharing memories,” the foundation said.
Bizos represented a wide range of people who defied apartheid, including the families of slain activists such as Steve Biko, and helped write the laws for the newly democratic country after apartheid ended with Mandela’s presidency in 1994.
Bizos remained active in human rights work in South Africa well into his 80s with the Legal Resources Center. In 2014 he questioned witnesses during an inquiry into the shooting deaths of several dozen protesters by police during a strike at Lonmin’s Marikana platinum mine in 2012.
Bizos considered himself Greek and South African to the core. During the struggle against apartheid, he said he drew on his schooling in Greece about democracy and freedom.
Bizos is survived by his three sons and seven grandchildren.
Fire struck again Wednesday night in Greece’s notoriously overcrowded refugee camp on the island of Lesvos, a day after a blaze swept through it and left thousands in need of emergency shelter. The fires caused no injuries, but they renewed criticism of Europe’s migration policy.
Later, about 4,000 migrants who had left the camp for the island’s main port of Mytilene to board ships for the mainland, threw stones at police blocking the road, and officers responded with tear gas, police said.
Moria had been under a coronavirus lockdown when the first fire gutted a large section of it, and health officials said some of those who had tested positive for the virus had fled.
An aerial view of destroyed shelters following the fire at the Moria camp, in a picture taken with a drone. Photo: Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters.
“The combination of migration and the pandemic in these conditions is creating an exceptionally demanding situation,” Alternate Migration Minister, Giorgos Koumoutsakos, said.
Civil protection authorities declared a four-month state of emergency for public health reasons on Lesvos.
Officials said the original fire was started by camp residents angered by the lockdown measures and isolation orders imposed after 35 people tested positive for COVID-19.
The exact cause of the first blaze was being investigated, but “what is certain is that the fire was started because of the quarantine by asylum-seekers in the facility,” said Migration Minister, Notis Mitarachi.
“Instances of unlawful behavior such as the ones we experienced yesterday will not be left unpunished,” Mitarachi said. “Such behavior is not acceptable, and also respect for law and order is a necessary precondition for the asylum process.”
Migrants flee from the Moria refugee camp during a second fire, on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece, on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. Photo: AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris.
“Locals are scared”:
In dramatic scenes early Wednesday, men, women and children fled fires that broke out during the night at multiple points and were fanned by gale-force winds. Firefighters said protesting camp residents hampered their efforts to put out the blaze.
Nita Loukadellis (Λαμπρινή Λουκαδέλλη), sister of the President of the Greek Orthodox Community of Canberra, John Loukadellis, has lived in Antissa, Lesvos, a village 65 kms west of Moria, for the last 10 years and describes her experience as ‘scary.’
“There was a fire here in the village but firefighters got it under control. My relatives in Australia were worried,” Mrs Loukadellis tells The Greek Herald exclusively.
“Locals are scared and we believe that the number of them [refugees] infected with the virus on the island are many more than what is being announced.
Nita Loukadellis, sister of the President of the Greek Orthodox Community of Canberra, John Loukadellis.
“We hear that they will be transferred to Athens or the authorities will find them temporary shelters on the island. What I know is that locals are suffering and we are not prepared for more riots like last February.
“People in the city of Mytilene are locked up in their homes. The island has been facing a crisis since 2014 and no one is really acting.”
Criticism from aid agencies:
Aid agencies have long warned of dire conditions at Moria, where more than 12,500 people live in and around a facility built to house just over 2,750.
The camp, housing those fleeing violence and poverty in the Middle East, Africa and Afghanistan, has become a symbol of what critics say is Europe’s failure to humanely handle the migration and refugee situation.
Ihab Abassi, is a Field Coordinator Assistant with Medecins Sans Frontieres and has been living in Mytilene for the last 5 years.
Ihab Abassi (left) with Mr. Eduard Nazarski director of Amnesty International.
“People are in the streets. They self-evacuated and they had nowhere to go,” he tells The Greek Herald. We asked him to describe the situation and he replied “in one word, chaos.”
Amnesty International’s migration researcher, Adriana Tidona, added “reckless EU policies” were to blame for the overcrowding in Moria.
“As the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum is finalised, this is a timely indictment of the current policy of camps and containment,” she said.
Europe responds to the crisis:
Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, said the incident had shown that the situation on Lesvos is untenable and that Greece needs the help of its EU allies in managing the situation.
“It’s a question of public health, of humanity, but also national security,” he said in a statement broadcast by ERT.
The first blaze left about 3,500 camp residents homeless after the fire destroyed administration buildings and a health facility, but only one section of living quarters.
Two migrant women stand at the burned Moria refugee camp on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece, on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. Photo: AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris.
Greek Migration Minister Mitarachi said those left homeless will be housed temporarily in tents flown to the island and aboard a ferry and two navy ships.
The European Union has also responded, pledging immediate financial support for refugees who have been left stranded.
Dutch Development Cooperation Minister, Sigrid Kaag, pledged a further $1.1 million in emergency aid for Greece to help the country provide accommodation, housing and care for migrants.
“We are in solidarity with the refugees and migrants and with the Greeks,” Kaag said.
Fire has destroyed Greece’s largest migrant camp, the overcrowded Moria facility on the island of Lesbos.
Nearly 13,000 migrants have fled Greece’s largest migrant camp as it went up in flames last night on the Greek island of Lesbos. The BBC reports that police have blocked migrants heading to the port town of Mytilene, leaving them stuck on the road.
Tensions have allegedly been stirred between locals and migrants as they attempt to move into villages for refuge.
About 25 firefighters with 10 engines battled the flames as migrants were evacuated. Some suffered injuries from smoke exposure.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called an emergency meeting on the fire on Wednesday morning. The EU has agreed to finance the transfer of 400 unaccompanied teenagers and children to the mainland and their accommodation, according to EU home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson.”
The safety and shelter of all people in Moria is a priority,” she tweeted.
As the blaze intensified, people were seen escaping the camp, carrying their luggage in their hands.
Stand by Me Lesvos, a refugee advocacy group, said the whole camp was on fire [Manolis Lagoutaris/AFP]
Nearly the entire camp was reportedly on fire, including in an olive grove outside the walls of the main compound where many people sleep in tents.
It is unclear how exactly the fires started. Greek news agency ANA said the fires had broken out after some of the 35 coronavirus victims had refused to move into isolation with their families but this is unconfirmed.
Wildfires fanned by strong winds were also burning in two other areas of the island.
On R U Okay Day, don’t just ask people if they’re okay, show them you’re there if they aren’t.
The discussion around mental health was significantly heightened during COVID-19 after people were forced to isolate in their homes with almost no social interaction. While now being raised into conversation, this topic has largely been avoided by the Greek community, with a certain stigma surrounding mental health illness.
Mental Health First Aid Instructor and Headspace Community Engagement Coordinator Stella Ladikos says that a large portion of this issue is due to a lack of education and dialogue, which the Greek community desperately needs.
“I’m sure it’s an experience that everyone has been through, where you approach your Greek parents or grandparents and they say, ‘back in my day things were harder’ or ‘back in my day we didn’t have this’,” Stella says to The Greek Herald.
“This kind of thing is exactly what deters young people from reaching out.”
An expert in mental health and active member of the Greek community, Stella has seen the stigma surrounding the issue, with grandparents attributing it to the ‘mati’ or a type of curse.
“Some of our grandparents still don’t even acknowledge the existence of mental health or acknowledge mental illness,” Stella adds.
Growing up in a time of poverty, famine and migration, the elderly generation have faced severe and significantly different issues, unlikened to those experienced by youth today. However, due to a significant age gap, it can become difficult for the older generation to understand some of the struggle’s youth face in today’s society.
The best way to bring about change, as Stella explains, is intergenerational dialogue.
“I’m a massive advocate for education and training,” Stella explains.
“It takes a bit of education to realise that mental health is similar to the issues of our physical health.”
“Just because you can’t see a mental illness, unlike a physical illness, doesn’t mean it’s not real.”
Everyone has a mental health
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, suicide continues to be the biggest killer of young Australians. Approximately one in ten young people aged 12-17 years old will self-harm, one in 13 will seriously consider a suicide attempt, and one in 40 will attempt suicide.
It’s these kinds of statistics that have brought mental health into the media limelight in the past five years, with the Australian government putting more action towards mental health awareness.
However, Stella explains that much of the stigma surrounding mental health has been due to miscommunication by the media, particularly in relation to crimes committed.
“We know that 96 percent of crimes are committed by people that do not have a mental illness,” Stella says.
“In fact, people that are experiencing a mental illness are more likely to be victims of crime rather than perpetrators.”
“The media portrays it very differently, and that’s what contributes to the stigma of people who have mental illness as being dangerous or crazy, which is really not the case.”
To understand the difference of people who suffer from mental health illness and people who have a mental health issue, the question must be asked. What exactly is ‘mental health’?
“Everybody has a mental health, yet only a small percentage of the population have a mental health problem, concern or illness,” Stella explains.
“Our mental health exists on a spectrum. When you go down the mental health spectrum it’s really those signs where your regular coping strategies aren’t working, and it’s that ‘medium’ place where we encourage people to seek help before it gets worse.
“Some people will experience mental health illness; A diagnosed problem like anxiety, depression and bipolar.
“So mental health does encompass a lot more than mental illness.”
Mental health first aid is the support given to someone who is either developing a mental health problem, experiencing a worsening of an existing mental health problem, or who is in a mental health crisis.
Stella recently began offering youth mental health first aid courses to adults, focusing on adolescent development and the importance of giving early intervention for young people.
“Around 75% of mental health issues emerge before the age of 25,” Stella says.
“Our youth a very high risk population and we know if we don’t tackle the mental health issues and problems at that stage, it leads to worse outcomes in their adult life.”
Meraki Mental Health Training offers a range of courses to people looking to be trained as mental health first aid advisors.
Editor’s note:
I have beared witness to friends, many of them Greek, suffer alone from mental health. Youth have turned to self-harming and attempted suicide because they felt they couldn’t talk to anyone.
The Greek Community of Melbourne has called for an increase in pensions in a letter to the Federal Government, due to the recent announcement of the Ministry of Social Services that Australian pensioners will not receive an automatic indexation increase this year, on the grounds that inflation has fallen.
In its letter, the Community points out that many of its members are elderly and rely on their pensions as their only source of income. They stressed that after the announcement of the ministry, many people contacted the Community asking for clarification of this decision, as well as to express their concerns.
The Greek Community of Melbourne notes that not providing an annual increase to retirees will result in significant reduction in quality of life for many.
“We do not think this is the right way to deal with some of the most vulnerable in Australia, especially in these emotional and difficult times. That is why we are asking the Federal Government to consider increasing pensions despite index,” the Greek Community of Melbourne says.
The Community states in its letter that “if the increase in pensions is not possible from the budget, due to the Federal Government’s expenditure on maintaining and creating jobs in these difficult times, for which we applaud the Government, there may be other ways in which a retiree can be helped.”
The Community has listed the following ways that external support can be achieved:
Adjustment of the control limit of retirees’ assets
In recent years, the increase in property values has far exceeded the index. However, the increases in pension asset control thresholds do not reflect this increase. As a result, many retirees receive a reduced pension without any other source of income. This has led many of our Community members into very difficult situations.
Regulation of utilities, health and insurance services
As the Federal Government is well aware (as the issue dominated the election campaign), sectors such as utilities (water, electricity, gas), insurance and health have seen their costs increase from year to year more than the index. As a result, an increased portion of each retiree’s pension is available to meet these needs, resulting in a consistently reduced quality of life.
The Community adds that the Federal Government, with the help of state governments, should seek to better regulate utilities, health care and insurance to reduce and better manage continuous and excessive annual increases.
“This will have a minimal cost for the Federal Government. However, the benefits will be great and will be welcomed by all Australians, especially retirees and low-income earners,” the Community said.
“It will also mean that Australians will have additional funds to spend on the market, and to stimulate the economy by spending money on small shops / businesses that are the main employers in Australia.”
The Inner West Council in Sydney voted in favour last night to convert Marrickville Town Hall into a live music and performing arts centre with the involvement of multicultural communities.
Announced by the Inner West Council Mayor, Darcy Byrne, the Council hopes that this beautiful town hall can become for the Inner West, “what the Concourse is for Chatswood”.
“The Inner West is the birthplace of multicultural Australia, by making Marrickville Town Hall a unique multicultural hub we can make sure this is a home for migrant communities for many decades to come,” Inner West Council Mayor, Darcy Byrne, said on Facebook.
“We’ll be conducting an Expression of Interest and inviting Inner West music venue operators and ethnic community organisations to put together a business plan that will make Marrickville Town Hall one of Sydney’s great cultural assets.”
This additional step towards a more multicultural precinct will hopefully allow Greeks across Sydney to enjoy live Greek music and entertainment in the converted building.
The announcement to rename Marrickville and Dulwich Hill as a Greek precinct was made a few months ago by the Inner City Council. Greeks across Sydney had the opportunity to provide a new name to what many refer to as “Little Athens”.
In the '60s Greek was commonly spoken on the streets and there was high demand for authentic Greek products and experiences – delis, restaurants, cake shops, clothing stores, to name a few.
The Council’s decision to change the name of the precinct was done to honour the incredible contribution of Greek Australians to the Inner West.
“This is a gesture of respect to all the Greek migrants who helped establish the Inner West as the birthplace of Australia multiculturalism,” the Mayor said in April.
“In the ’60s Greek was commonly spoken on the streets and there was high demand for authentic Greek products and experiences – delis, restaurants, cake shops, clothing stores, to name a few.”
A South Australian man could face a life sentence in jail after being charged over an alleged plot to smuggle 20kg of cocaine, with a street value of $20 million, into the state from Greece.
The man was arrested yesterday (8 September) after Australian Federal Police (AFP) and Australian Border Force (ABF) officers executed search warrants at two inner-city Adelaide properties. Forensic tests by the AFP confirmed the 18 seized packages contained a total of approximately 20 kilograms of cocaine.
According to the AFP, this equates to about 20,000 ‘street level’ deals of cocaine, which police say can currently be sold for about $5 million wholesale, and which has an approximate ‘street value’ of $20 million.
The packages were wrapped in several layers. Photo: AFP
AFP Detective Acting Superintendent Gavin Stone said COVID-19 border restrictions are not stopping crime syndicates from trying to flout the law and profit from smuggling illicit drugs into Australia.
“Operations like this send a strong message that no matter how sophisticated or opportunistic these criminal ventures are, or what methods they use, the AFP and our partners are one step ahead,” Detective Acting Superintendent Stone said.
ABF SA Chief Superintendent Brett Liebich said air cargo volumes increased during the pandemic but so to did the organisation’s capacity to screen inbound consignment.
“We have surged officers to the air and sea cargo streams to protect the border,” he said.
“And our officers are alert to the many creative ways criminals attempt to import their illicit cargoes.”
Investigations into who sent the drugs from Greece continue.
Mass beach gatherings on some of Sydney’s most popular beaches could be in danger this summer if people don’t properly follow distancing measures and guidelines.
Sydney beaches were forced to close in March after crowds continued to flock to the ocean once summer had ended. They were later reopened for swimming, surfing and other exercise only, with no sunbaking or sitting on the beach allowed.
Waverley Mayor Paula Masselos said this year would hold a different summer, with the pandemic continuing to pose harsh challenges.
People remain off the sand as Bondi Beach reopens to the public after closing following an outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) in Sydney, Tuesday, April 28, 2020. (AAP Image/Joel Carrett)
“I think things are different and they’ll have to be different because we’re still in the middle of a pandemic,” Paula Masselos said to the ABC.
“Certainly I hope that we don’t have to close the beaches.
“But if people don’t do the right thing, and the beach has become too crowded then we’ll have to look at how we manage those numbers because I don’t want a repeat of what happened back in in March.”
Waverley Council, which manages Bondi, Tamarama and Bronte beaches, is still finalising a plan for the hotter months.
“Our beach and public open spaces plan is still being finalised, but is based on the current Public Health Orders and advice from Police and NSW Health,” Mayor Paula Masselos told 7NEWS.com.au.
“The plan involves working with key stakeholders and agencies, and draws on some of the measures and resourcing approaches we have used over the last five months.”
Waverley Council advises people to maintain a social distance while at the beach and not to gather in groups larger than 20, as per NSW coronavirus rules.
